MAX ROACH DIES AT 83

By Culturekiosque Staff

NEW YORK, 17 AUGUST 2007 Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach
died Wednesday night in New York City at the age of 83. According to
a press statement from Blue Note Records, the jazz percussionist and
composer died in his sleep. Along with drummer Kenny Clarke, Max Roach
redefined the role of the drums in Jazz during the bebop revolution of the
late-1940s and early-50s, participating in many of the movements seminal
recordings with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bud Powell
and Thelonious Monk. In the mid-50s, Roach co-led a quintet with Clifford
Brown that was one of hard bops premiere bands up until the trumpeters
untimely death in a car accident in 1956.

A native of North Carolina and a self-taught musical prodigy, Roach was
also an outspoken advocate for civil rights and racial equality, and in
1960 he created one the great protest records with We Insist! Max
RoachsFreedom Now Suite, a seven-part suite featuring
vocalist Abbey Lincoln that addressed slavery and racism in America.

In 1988, Max Roach was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
"genius award," in recognition of his distinguished contributions to
American cultural life. He was the first jazz musician to receive this
prize.

Services for Max Roach will be held on Friday, 24 August 2007 at
11:00 am at Riverside Church, New York City.